


Calling Down A Storm

by Mosspool13



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-15
Updated: 2019-02-15
Packaged: 2019-10-25 06:12:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17719643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mosspool13/pseuds/Mosspool13
Summary: Resurfacing from the underwater bellows of the shipwreck graveyard, a blood pact made and a blood ritual completed leads to the summoning of a mighty storm. Caught unawares, the Squall-Eater can barely hold itself together, and in the chaos, Yasha vanishes and the ship is torn apart.Fighting to stay afloat, the Nein are separated at sea. Fjord, Jester and Caleb manage to stay together, but the mounting tension between them could seriously jeopardize their safety. They will need to come together in more ways than one if they hope to find their friends.[Alternatively: Fjord and Caleb finish the ritual, and call down a storm on the Squall-Eater]





	Calling Down A Storm

"Do you think, if we find him, you'll stop talking like him?"

Jester's words were still running through his head, even after they'd scoured every inch of that shipwreck, finding not head nor hair of Vandren. Would he stop talking like Vandren? He'd been reluctant to give Jester a straight answer, instead giving her a half-ass'd response while hopelessly avoiding her eyes. Vandren's voice held such power and comfort to Fjord in ways that the others would never understand--he didn't know if he could be open about his feelings regarding how much Vandren meant to him. He'd barely told Jester anything, only the bare minimum, when she'd confronted him a few days after meeting up with the rest of the Might Nein for the first time. It was all too real to think about right now, especially after everything that had happened.

Caduceus' spell sent them shooting up towards the surface of the ocean. He expected the water pressure to feel like a heavy weight against his chest and head, as they shot upwards at high velocity, but Fjord could only feel his arm tingling from the constant reopening and closing of the wound. He'd sliced open his forearm repeatedly and after each session Jester had pressed her hands harshly into the blood soaked skin of his arm, equal parts furious and worried, the emotions a mix in her eyes. But what had driven Fjord onwards was the expression on Caleb's face, opposite the pedestal, the determination in his brow, as he copied Fjord's movements, and was healed just as furiously by Jester.

When it was done, the pool of their blood mixed together in that indentation, the entire room had been shining a deep crimson. Yasha had been backlit by it, and she was wearing a face that Fjord had never seen her wear before. The chamber had shook once, before the runes had faded back to gray. They waited a moment, but nothing else seemed to have happened and Caleb and Fjord exchanged confused glances, Jester's mouth had been pinched tight in exasperation, and she'd looked angrier than Fjord had ever seen her. She'd opened her mouth to say something to them, rebuke them maybe, but Beauregard and Nott had chosen that moment to appear.

It had now been 24 hours since they'd dived down. Breaking the surface, Fjord felt mentally and emotionally exhausted. Nott was breathing heavily, gasping wildly for air as she gulped feverishly, splashing hurriedly through her pockets for her ring of water-walking. As soon as she found it and slipped it on, she became buoyant and stood up on the water. She looked bedraggled and soaked through, and miserable, and Fjord felt only slightly bad that he'd persuaded her to join them beneath the waves knowing how traumatic she felt around water--and who could blame her, considering everything they had encountered on the waves. Fjord would be lying if he said that he didn't find himself wary of the water sometimes--not just because of his dreams, but also the near death experiences he and the rest of the Nein experienced on a daily basis, it felt like, while amongst Avantika's crew, in the Cloaked Serpent's temple, and now aboard the wilting Squall-Eater.

They'd left the cannonballs on the seafloor, too heavy to carry, even for Jester and Yasha. Caleb was wading ahead of them back to the ship, Frumpkin a bulbous shape ahead of him. His hair was tangled and wet and streaks of water was running down his face, as though he were tearing up. His heavy coat and clothes were fanning out around him. Caduceus didn't look any better, his fur matted and wet, his pink hair a flop over his eyes it was a wonder he could see where he was going. Beau was tugging on his shirt, actually, leading him towards the ship. Yasha was confidently swimming behind them, no more bothered than she always seemed.

"Are you okay, Fjord?" Jester asked, on his right, her eyes as wide and blue as they'd been onboard the Squall-Eater not so long ago when she'd asked him the same question.

"Yeah." He managed, swimming after the others, glancing back briefly to make sure Jester was following. "It was a long shot anyway. Finding Vandren. We at least got the orb, and I'm not too worried now that Avantika is dead." He'd been strangely okay with the thought: Avantika dead. He thought he might feel something a little more, especially after watching her die right in front of him like that, but all he felt was a deep relief that the others were safe from her... that he had done what he needed to do to keep them safe after all, even if that had meant getting close to her... sleeping with her. Her accusing eyes when she'd glared at him and spoken of their liaisons, of his betrayal... he could only feel relief that it was finally over.

Back onboard, Orly was holding out Jester's weasel, his expression pinched in consternation as he held the critter as far from his body as he could. Jester plucked the weasel from his hand, scratching it's chin with her fingers and cooing softly into its beady eyes. Fjord glanced at Caleb, who was doing mostly the same to an Octo-Frumpkin, and warily skirted around them to head to the bow of the ship. Beau joined him shortly afterward, wringing out the water from her hair, which she'd let down to dry. It was an odd look, something Fjord wasn't used to, seeing Beau like that, and he could feel himself flushing.

"What." Beau said, glaring at him and Fjord turned away to look out at the sea with a shrug, keeping his shoulders high to hide behind.

"Nothin'. Suppose we should head to that port city now, get a move on to fix the ship."

Beau perched herself on the railing and eyed the sky with a scowl. The clouds had darkened considerably while they had been below. In fact, Fjord could see bolts of lightning off in the distance. "We won't be moving fast enough to escape that shit show though."

"At least Yasha will enjoy it." Fjord commented, glancing over at their friend. Yasha was intently watching the horizon. Her face was stoic but the softening of her mouth was a clear sign that she was pleased.

Beau nodded, eyeing Yasha, her gaze roaming up and down their friend's form in a way that reminded Fjord of the ways Avantika had looked at him. He shivered involuntarily and tried his best to keep the reaction from showing on his face. Instead, he smoothed his brow and nodded his head in Yasha's direction. "You gonna make a move?"

Beau rolled her eyes and turned away. "You're the second person to ask me that, and my answer is going to stay the same--it's none of your business." Her tone was distinctly defensive. 

Fjord shrugged again. When Beau got defensive it was usually better to back off or risk getting punched. "Alright. Just wonderin' s'all. She might even say yes."

Beau scoffed but didn't reply, aiming her gaze back at the sea and the churning waters below them. "Are you upset we didn't find what you were looking for down there?"

Fjord sighed. "I'd be lyin' if I said I wasn't disappointed, but... I'm glad we didn't find a body down there. I don't know if I'd be okay with seeing that."

Beau raised an eyebrow. "Could mean he's still alive."

Fjord shook his head, tapping his fingers on the railing and thinking about the sword that materialized, with just a thought, in his hand. "No. I'm sure he's dead."

There was a shuffle of feet and then a shadow that loomed over the two of them. It was no surprise that they would turn their heads to find Caduceus standing behind them. "Orly wants to get moving, Captain." He said, looking at Fjord and smiling that gentle smile of his. It never failed to raise Fjord's morale. Fjord nodded and headed off to meet up with Orly at the wheel, but not before Beau stuck out her hand and caught Fjord's arm. He turned back to her, meeting her determined expression.

"Be careful with that orb, alright. We don't need any more Avantikas running around with water powers."

"Yeah, I know. Thank you, again, for doing this, for staying with me."

"Yeah, well, you'd do the same for us, right?" Beau said, in that gruff way of hers, and letting Fjord go to turn back to watching the sea. Caduceus smiled at Fjord and patted his shoulder with his big paw. Fjord remembered a conversation they'd had outside the pub in Darktow, about the Nein siding with Fjord on his journey. He could see in Caduceus's face that the firbolg was reminded of the memory too. He smiled big and soft and Fjord smiled tentatively back. 

Once he reached Orly and had command of the ship again, he turned the Squall-Eater around and started off in the direction of that port city. They would need to prioritize repairs if they hoped to continue to use the Squall-Eater in the future. They would need new crew members too--their stint with Avantika and their near death at Darktow had left several of their hired crew members ready to jump ship (though most were appreciative of the Nein getting them out of those situations alive). Fjord didn't blame them, really. They hadn't hired on to become pirates, after all. To be fair, the Nein hadn't planned to be pirates anyway... it just sort of happened, like most things did to them, it seemed.

Fjord was contemplating this when a loud clap of thunder brought Fjord's attention outward to his surroundings. He realized that his course was slightly off, and that he was having trouble keeping the steering straight. It was freezing too, from the high winds that were buffeting the sail and his hair.    

Marius LePual appeared at his elbow, his aristocratic face pulled tight with fear and his hair tangled and windswept with brine and seaweed. "Captain! The ship can't take much more of this!" 

"What? What are ya--?" Fjord turned his head incredulously to where Marius was staring and instinctively recoiled at the sight before him. The storm that had been on the horizon had rapidly expanded, nearly encompassing the entire sky. The clouds were inky black and the wind was strong enough that the sea was rising up into the air from its powerful gales. A tornado of water was advancing on them, small now but rapidly becoming faster and larger as Fjord watched it, spurred on by the lightning and buffeting winds that were increasing as the storm came closer.  

"When the hell did the storm get so close?!" Fjord exclaimed, yanking hard on the wheel to keep the ship from nearly capsizing when a large wave crashed into the side of it. Marius was pale and shaking and Fjord barked at him. "Get down there and help keep the hull together! We need to keep the ship from tearing apart!"

Marius shakily saluted before he ran down the stairs back onto the deck. Fjord watched him, getting a good glimpse of the havoc below. 

The deck was in chaos. Orly was barking orders to the crew while they ran back and forth trying desperately to reinforce the sails. Beau was trying to pull on one of the ropes, wind and rain splashing her in the face as Jester was desperately casting a mending spell on the sails over and over again when they began to tear from the force of the wind. Nott was running from side to side, heavily drinking, screaming too, as she tried to keep cargo from knocking into Caleb. Caleb, who was sitting in the center of the chaos, eyes tightly closed and his lips moving, no doubt trying to concentrate to cast a spell that would hopefully save them all--Fjord hoped. If there was anyone he trusted the most to save them, it was Caleb. Fjord couldn't see Caduceus, he was probably down below helping with any injuries, which would be Fjord's guess. And Yasha--

Another wave slammed into the side of the ship, Fjord cursed and tried to steer with it to keep the boat afloat, but the sound of the impact shuddered through him and the ship, and Fjord was sure something must have broken. "Damn it." He cursed. He couldn't go down and help the crew out without having someone steady the ship's wheel. He'd need to stay to keep them steady. 

What he wouldn't give to have those water-bending powers right now. 

"Fjord." Fjord startled as he turned his head to find Yasha standing next to him. 

"Yasha, thank the gods, are you able to hold on to the wheel while I head down there. I gotta help the crew with--"

"This storm." She interrupted, her brow furrowed with concern, "it's not natural." 

"What?"

There was a tightness around her eyes, wariness in her gaze and, also alarmingly, distress. It was vaguely reminiscent of the look she had sported down in the Dashilla's lair, with Fjord opposite Caleb and Jester furious at their side. "The StormLord is not... this is not a storm of his making." 

"Okay... are all storms his storms then and this something else?" Fjord paused, added hesitantly, "do you think this could be magical?"

Her voice was soft. "I don't know." She looked uncomfortable, which was not new. Fjord's hands tightened instinctively on the wheel as another wave crashed into them and he jerked it to keep steady. "I..." she trailed off as a lightning strike flashed through the sky, illuminating her pale skin and the whites of her eyes. Her mouth parted and then she said, almost faintly. "He's going to take me again." 

"What?" Fjord shouted, jerking the wheel a second time to both keep himself and the ship from tilting over. "Could you ask your god nicely to hold off a bit there, maybe?" He steadied himself, glancing back down to the deck, catching side of sliding boxes and barrels, just barely hitting Caleb in the center, his only defense Nott, who was pushing them back with a combination of her own body and her mage hand. "We really need the help right now, can't he wait?" 

Yasha shook her head. "I... he wants me to come to him. There is no choice. This storm is not... he is unhappy." 

"Goddamnit." Fjord cursed. 

"I'm sorry." 

"Don't be sorry, 'snot your fault." Fjord said automatically, trying to keep the wheel straight as another crash of wind and wave tried to tear at him. He flashed her a faint smile, thin at the edges, hoping it looked genuine. "It's mighty inconvenient but not something we can't handle." 

Yasha nodded, but looked unhappy. It was an interesting change. She had been with them for so long now, the entirety of their journey on sea, in fact, for months. Fjord had gotten used to her flitting in and out of their lives as her god so pleased. He and Yasha weren't close, it was true, but he was always appreciative of her fighting capabilities while she was here, and always was relieved when she inevitably returned from wherever she would go. No, it was not a surprise that eventually her god would call to her. It just was unfortunate it had to be now. 

"Come back when you can, Yasha." He said, glancing at her briefly before focusing once more on the wheel and the churning dark waters. 

Fjord heard her shift, as if she was turning away, but then, suddenly, he saw a flash of her dark hair out of the corner of his eye and he looked up just in time to see the faint horror in Yasha's expression. 

"No!" She yelled, suddenly, and then she pushed him and Fjord, not expecting it, was toppled by her strength to the side as a blast of lightning shot down and struck the spot where he had been standing. The wheel, without anyone to hold it, spun rapidly in place and the ship tilted in a circle, at the mercy of the wind, rain and ocean below. 

Bewildered, Fjord tried to get back to his feet but the tilted ship made it difficult. Yasha was standing, feet squared as if ready for battle, arms loose, as she stared at something to Fjord's left. "Why?" She said, her voice raised in a way that was so uncharacteristic of her. It was not often that Yasha raised her voice. When she wasn't raging, of course. "It wasn't their fault." She said, pleading. "They didn't know!" 

Fjord could not understand what was happening. It looked as though Yasha was having a conversation with a partner that he could not see. Finally righting himself, Fjord staggered to the wheel and clutched it hard, trying to keep it from spinning but his strength was no match for that of the sea, and it nearly toppled him. It took all of his strength just to clutch on to it.  

"No! I won't let you." She continued. "I can't lose anyone else." She pleaded. Fjord's eyes shot to her, widened at the desperation on her face, just before her own eyes widened back, met his, and then she vanished from right in front of him.

"Yasha?!" He exclaimed, jolting to his senses and looked about wildly. It was as if she'd been plucked straight from the air, so swiftly he hadn't seen it. 

There was a clap of resounding thunder, like a booming voice, low in its laughter. Fjord instinctively shuddered, hands white-knuckled against the ship's wheel. The ship lurched to and fro, buffeted by the wind as it whipped its way through their sails. Jester's mending spells were useless against the rioting winds, and each successive cast was too slow to match the tears that began to lengthen in each piece of the sail. Fjord hollered down to the deck below, "Does anyone see Yasha?" hoping against hope that maybe she'd just made her way down below deck or somewhere he couldn't see, but no responses came back. Everyone was too preoccupied, and Fjord couldn't let go of the wheel without jeopardizing their steering.  

Fjord had just turned back to hope to catch a glimpse of Yasha's pale form, when he saw Caleb thrust his palm into the deck. An orange dome immediately sprang up from his position and encompassed him securely in its warmth and Fjord thought, _That clever bastard_ , just as a lightning strike flashed in his peripheral and jolted through his body. Pain lanced up his spine and throat, causing him to double over with the force of it, his mouth filling with blood. He lost his grip on the wheel and he fell awkwardly to the floor.

 _I was just struck by lightning_. He thought distantly, vision whiting out.  

He could hear shouting, yelling, the desperate cries of the crew as the Squall-Eater lurched sideways, unable to keep steady without Fjord's hands on the wheel.

And something else.

For a moment, he thought he was imagining it. There was something coming down from the sky.  

Two large hands reached down. They were made of storm clouds, the crackle of lightning, the sound of thunder, the smell of rain. They came down like mighty things, clutched each end of the Squall-Eater.

And then they ripped it in two. 

The last memory Fjord has is seeing half of the ship rising into the air in front of him and the scream of his name in Jester's voice.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Valentine's Day!

**Author's Note:**

> This is both a way to profess my love for a poly ship and also to explore the StormLord and Yasha's relationship; and also just the StormLord in general because how cool was that battle, huh???


End file.
